Peace Out, Monsieur Crawford

Sports fans in Vancouver are abuzz, because yesterday afternoon Canucks coach Marc Crawford was ‘relieved of his coaching duties’. My fantasy appears to be coming true. I think this page on the Canucks site tells the whole story.

Crawford coached the Canucks for six seasons (over seven years–have you forgotten the lockout already?), and his team won one playoff series. You measure a team and its staff by playoff success, and the Canucks didn’t get it done.

Additionally, every coach has a certain shelf life, before the players start to tune them out. On average, an NHL coach lasts 2.5 years, so Crawford’s six (or seven, depending on how you count) is looking pretty good.

Of course, Crawford is just the guy at the gate when the invasion comes. I expect there will be significant player movement in the off-season as well. Obviously the players–particularly the ones with the highest salaries–have to shoulder some blame as well. As somebody noted in the Vancouver Sun this morning, the team has become slow and easy to play against.

Who should replace Crawford? A taskmaster. My dream coach would be Brent Sutter. I also like the idea of Ken Hitchcock, whose job security with the Flyers weakens with each playoff loss.

Here’s some reaction from around the blogosphere:

• Richard: “Not getting past the second round in the playoffs in any of his seasons coaching the Canucks is probably enough to warrant dismissal, but he had only one year left on his counteract, and with a healthy team next year the Canucks could have simply chosen not to renew.”
• Tom: “Marc Crawford deserves a thanks for some good memories. Canuck fans wish him well in his next job unless of course Toronto hires him.”
• Vancouver Canucks Op-Ed: “I just wrote a very long, intelligent, deeply moving article about the firing of Marc Crawford, the future of the Vancouver Canucks coaching staff, and the state of trades in the NHL during this off season…But then Windows Media Player got itself in a knot over a new CD I plugged into it, and promptly crashed every square inch of my operating system, taking my blog post (and quite possibly my soul) along with it.”
• Joel: “It’s obvious that the Canucks needed a boot in the ass to rouse them out of their slumber. Maybe a fresh face behind the bench next year will do just that.”